Many businesses have customer needs that are not consistent throughout a week or month or some other period of time. For example, a number of retail businesses have a much higher volume of customers during the holiday shopping season (e.g., Christmas, Thanksgiving, Kwanza, etc.) than they do at other times of the year. Similarly, accounting firms and other businesses associated with income tax returns have a very high amount of customer demand between late January and mid April than they do for the remainder of the year.
At times such as these, a business must balance the need to satisfy its customers by providing good service with the need to keep its employees happy. Oftentimes, companies tend to focus on satisfying the customer, and as a result, the employees have to make a number of significant sacrifices, such as being subjected to inconsistent work schedules. Inconsistent work schedules can range from working inconsistent shifts on the same days of a business week to not having the same days off every week to having to work long hours on certain days or weeks. In addition, notification to changes to a work schedule in these circumstances are often made at the last minute.
When employees are exposed to these conditions, they are less satisfied with their job, which can lead to poor customer service or, in cases where jobs are relatively easy to find, a high employment turnover rate. Poor customer service can lead to a decrease in business and damage to company reputation and goodwill. A high turnover rate can lead to increased costs in training new employees to replace those that are leaving at a more frequent rate. Being able to schedule workers more effectively can lead to higher employee satisfaction, which in turn can lead to, among other things, higher customer satisfaction, lower employee turnover, and increased job satisfaction among employees.